The beginning is in sight at Akiraho St

Well the time has finally come for me to leave this project for Greenpeace NZ. I am doing this only one week from the move in date for Greenpeace and although it appears like I am running away I need to get onto my next Greenpeace contract, which I have already delayed for some time. I'm gutted to do this of course at such a critical time and after six months getting us to this point but I think it'll all be OK, I've handed over to an old counterpart of mine Mal Wren and I'm sure I leave it in capable hands. Looking around a week ago, you'd have thought we were mad thinking we were going to be in at the end of next week, but when I take a look around the site now, I can actually see that it is going to happen.

As long as we are fire safe and signed off we'll be operating at the new address as planned on Monday the 15th of September.

In the last week we've seen the last of the double glazing go in from Metro Gasstech, and this has made an enormous difference in the main office space, loads more light and even on clod days, I'm starting to feel a big difference this makes in the air temperature inside coupled with the eco insulation in here now. From the guys at Metro Glasstech:

Metro GlassTech is a leading supplier and manufacturer of glass products across New Zealand. With sustainability in mind, Metro GlassTech produces their own line of double glazing, and provides a service called Retro-fit. Retro-fit allows the windows in an existing home or building to be replaced with double glazing, and we are proud to have had the opportunity to supply the Greenpeace headquarters in Auckland with this product. Greenpeace chose this top of the line double glazing which includes the use of Argon gas and Low E glass. This combination achieves optimum insulation results and aids in maintaining an environmentally friendly approach by reducing energy usage and in turn reducing emissions.

A big thank you to Mark Creedy there for doing this and doing it at a price we could not say no to.

The ceiling is almost in! It transforms the space immensely, lightens it up and as it is acoustically treated dulls out the exterior noise and dampens the noise people like me make on the inside. It's been a labour getting it in with a lot of gear failures but we'll be seeing the lights and last fit off of the fire systems now able to be completed early next week.

The painting crews have been amazing. Working diligently through weekends and during week nights with the donated Biopaints product they have all but completed all top coats in the upstairs areas, and have now moved into the ground floor reception area which means we really are in the home straight. When it comes to the paint work. A big thank you to all of the Greenpeace staff, volunteers and others who have put in the effort here, it's saved us dozens of thousands of dollars and it looks brilliant.

Building wise we've been finishing skirting, architraves and fitting door hardware, fitting of the window sills and generally tidying up loose ends like the workshops in the basement and the archive storage area. We'll be completing the deck at the back next week and this will finish the structural component of the work schedule.

…..and then the move in. This starts on 12.09 and Greenpeace is moving itself with the help of staff and volunteers. It's going to be a stressful couple of days no doubt as the systems come on line. There's bound to be a few teething problems as we figure out what switch does what, learn how to use the VOIP phone system, ensure the network is running smoothly, learn how to use the ventilation system and get across the new alarm systems. But Greenpeace is a flexible and accommodating sort of an outfit, and I know that things will generally be OK. As I say, it's a real shame for me not to see through the last 5% of such an effort, but there are whales to save now, and this is what I intend to do.